Today, we're testifying in the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment committee for the Reclaim Renewable Energy Act (SB590/HB718) - the latest, and hopefully final, step in the years-long campaign to end "renewable energy" subsidies for trash incineration. This year, communities on the Eastern Shore and in Western Maryland are facing new, but parallel, threats from factory farm methane production and woody biomass incineration. The Reclaim Renewable Energy Act eliminates subsidies for all three, redirecting the money to the real renewable energy we need to actually clean the air and fight climate change. Check out the testimony below for more details, and take action here!
Testimony Supporting SB590
Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee
February 28, 2023
Position: SUPPORT
Dear Chair Feldman and Members of the Committee,
The undersigned 54 organizations urge you to support the Reclaim Renewable Energy Act (SB590) to eliminate three problematic polluters from Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS): trash incineration, factory farm methane, and woody biomass. This legislation would make sure that Maryland ratepayers are getting what they’re paying for: renewable energy dollars going to support actual renewable energy.
Since 2008, Maryland ratepayers have spent over $200 million on Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from dirty sources misclassified as “renewable.” That money should have been supporting the development of new wind and solar power instead of being thrown away to profit polluters.
Trash incineration was added to Tier 1 of the RPS in 2011. Before then, it had been in Tier 2, designed to sunset by 2019. In the original design of the RPS, trash incineration would no longer be eligible for subsidies by 2023. Incinerating trash creates greenhouse gas emissions as well as harmful local air pollution, and disincentivizes the better alternatives for handling our trash: reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting. Our communities are working to move forward with those better alternatives, and it’s time for the state to stop holding us back. Now, while we’re building the better infrastructure we need, is the time to start subsidizing the things we want and stop subsidizing the things we don’t.
Factory farm methane gas, otherwise known as anaerobic digestion or “biogas,” produces methane. No matter the source, methane is methane. Whether drilled out of the ground or manufactured from waste, methane produces CO2 when burned for energy. Methane also leaks, and when it does, it is an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. As with trash incineration, subsidizing factory farm waste management with “renewable” energy subsidies skews the markets in favor of more pollution. Digesters would not solve nutrient runoff problems from farm waste; they would exacerbate it. There are no such facilities in Maryland now, but developers are proposing to build them across the Delmarva region. Now is the time to take this problem out of the RPS.
Maryland’s woody biomass subsidies mostly go to out-of-state sawmills and paper mills burning their own products to power their own operations. These facilities harm the health of nearby communities, and harm the climate. A recent Harvard School of Public Health Study found that biomass and wood have the fastest-growing share of early deaths in the major energy-consuming sectors; burning wood for electricity produces as much or more pollution than fossil fuels, including coal. Let’s stop wasting our “renewable energy” money on these out-of-state facilities.
Two years ago, the legislature wisely eliminated black liquor, a polluting paper mill byproduct, from the RPS. That action freed up the money that was being wasted to support real renewable energy instead. For all of the good reasons that the legislature eliminated black liquor from the RPS, we urge you to pass the Reclaim Renewable Energy Act (SB590) in 2023.
Sincerely,
Mid-Atlantic Justice Coalition
Clean Water Action, Emily Ranson, Maryland Director
Food and Water Watch, Jorge Aguilar, Southern Region Director
South Baltimore Community Land Trust, Shashawnda Campbell, Director of Environmental Justice Communities
Baltimore City Council District 10, Phylicia Porter, Councilwoman for Baltimore’s Tenth District
Zero Waste Montgomery County, Amy Maron, Co-Founder
Sentinels of Eastern Shore Health, Michael Payan, Co-founder
NAACP Maryland State Conference, Staci Hartwell, Chair, Environmental and Climate Justice Committee
League of Conservation Voters, Kristen Harbeson, Political Director
Sugarloaf Citizens Association, Steven Findlay, President
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Brige Dumais, Political Coordinator
Maryland Catholics for Our Common Home, Dr James S Cleghorn, Organizer
Mountain Maryland Movement, Frostburg, MD, Annie Bristow, Convener
Progressive Maryland, SirJames Weaver , Environmental Justice Organizer
Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church Creation Care Team, Liz Feighner, Creation Care Team Member
Maryland Latinos Unidos, Gabriela D Lemus, Executive Director
Waterkeepers Chesapeake, Robin Broder, Acting Executive Director
Centro de Apoyo Familiar, Walkiria Pool, President
Beyond Extreme Energy, Andrew Hinz, Member
Baltimore Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter Veterans For Peace, Ellen Barfield, Co-Founder and Chapter Coordinator
Indivisible Howard County, Peter Alexander, Member, Climate Action Team
Locust Point Community Garden, Dave Arndt, Director
Envision Frederick County, Karen Cannon, Executive Director
Echotopia LLC, Diane Wittner, Principal
Baltimore Jewish Council, Abby Snyder, Director of Government Relations
Sustainable Hyattsville, Greg Smith, Board Member
Environmental Integrity Project, Courtney Bernhardt, Director of Research
Blue Water Baltimore, Taylor Smith-Hams, Advocacy & Outreach Senior Manager
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland, Phil Webster, Lead Advocate, Climate Change
Cedar Lane Environmental Justice Ministry, Lee McNair, Member
Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Jamie DeMarco, Maryland Director
Sunrise Movement Baltimore, Anne Wilson, Hub coordinator
Safe Healthy Playing Fields Inc, Diana Conway, President
Potomac Riverkeeper Network, Betsy Nicholas, Vice President of Programs
Climate Reality Greater Maryland, Frances Stewart, Chapter Chair
Elders Climate Action Maryland, Frances Stewart, Chapter Co-leader
National Aquarium, Ryan Fredriksson, VP, Government Affairs
Environmental Justice Ministry, Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, Nanci Wilkinson, EJM Team
Gunpowder Riverkeeper, Theaux M. Le Gardeur, Gunpowder Riverkeeper
Maryland PIRG, Emily Scarr, Director
Our Revolution Maryland, Hal Ginsberg, State Organizer
HoCo Climate Action, Liz Feighner, Steering Committee
Doctors for Camp Closure, Kate Sugarman, Maryland Director
Maryland Legislative Coalition Climate Justice Wing, Laurie McGilvray, Co-Chair
Baltimore 350, David J Neun, Founder
Sunrise Movement Frederick, Davin Faris, Hub Coordinator
Climate Communications Coalition, Sonia Demiray, Co-founder
Indivisible Howard County, Peter Alexander, Member, Climate Action Team
Clean Air Baltimore Coalition, Stephanie Compton, Baltimore Organizer
Energy Justice Network, Mike Ewall, Executive Director
DoTheMostGood, Olivia Bartlett, DTMG Maryland Team
Bethesda Green, Jordan Lee, Communications Associate
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, Philip Bogdonoff, President, Board of Directors; Director, Washington DC Chapter
Maryland Legislative Coalition, Cecilia Plante, Co-Chair